When do you think you will say: I'm Done!

agreed ^^^ i said that once i got the body kit and the car painted thats it!!!!.......that was two years ago,i've since sunk....well more than my car is worth...and still going

........although i am applying for a loan today to get a 98 csvt..so we'll see

as long as i have money to spend on the car, then i will.

Originally posted by durateX:
Subwoower, amp, and pioneer 3-way 6x8s
3.) Front OMP strut Bar (Yellow to match Konis)

Are you going to have anything else yellow under the hood? Since you won't be able to see the Koni's with the car being slammed, it'll just look like you have a yellow strut bar. Not dogging yellow if that's what you like, but if you're wanting it to flow with something, I'd color match it to something under the hood.. Maybe silver frost to match the body color, or blue to match plug wires, intake pipes, other powdercoated items.. Just my $.02

Mark

Originally posted by Y2KSVT:
Not dogging yellow if that's what you like, but if you're wanting it to flow with something, I'd color match it to something under the hood.. Maybe silver frost to match the body color, or blue to match plug wires, intake pipes, other powdercoated items..

That actually makes total sense Mark. I was trying to stay monochromatic anyway, so either silver or black to match the rear one will do... Thanks for the idea.

XL

And modding never really stops, until you sell the car, or move onto another project. I like to think of this financial point in my life as "slowing down" on my mods. Once some things get taken care of, Im sure I can find quite a few mods I'll be doing.

Mark

mirko splitter and thats about it.

and the sound system is something that i am always messing with in every car i own.

but i bought this car specifically because i don't want to mod it. i bought it with the mods i really wanted, and know that the platform is limited enough that it would be pointless to dump tons of money into it.

it's sort of an exercise in forced self-control.

i guess after the last 15 years of dumping all my free money into my vehicles, only to get no return on those investments has finally worn me down. from here on out, if i want to mod a car, i will have a very specific goal and a very specific budget (i.e. 700 hp daily driver mustang gt or the like).

Saving for a house here...

Mines bone stock down to the paper filter. Original everything at 100k.

Shocks were toast, so I "splurged" and went with the BAT kit instead of the mediocre SVT struts. Waiting on Stazi brakes to get here to do an all in one install... I don't really consider these mods as the SVTs had factory upgraded front brakes and struts/springs so replacing these maintenance items with OEM parts simply isn't cost effective.

This is my commuter car anyhow and paid for at that. The more money I spend on it, the further I am from purchasing my home so it really isn't as much of a battle.

On a side note, I went nuts (hmmm, pun?) with a previous car to the point where it was completely impractical to drive every day and ended up with a good deal of residual debt after the car was sold. I'm not going to even think about repeating that mistake.

Short answer, I was done the day I bought it.

bohdi- That's all understandable but there are SO MANY cheap inexpensive and even free mods that will do wonders for a tour! knauberize, LED switches... Just the little things like this do so much... and i highly doubt that they will make or break a home purchase...

Originally posted by RawBurt:
knauberize, LED switches...

I live in an apartment and thus my car sits in a parking lot, anything that could save a door ding gets the nod from me.

I'm trying to stick to the philosophy of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I'm not trying to re-engineer this car. I've learned both from observation and personal experience, the more one tinkers with a car, the more likely it is to become problematic further down the road and arguably eliminating the practicality of it.

Granted there are certain, easy and inexpensive 'mods' that I certainly wouldn't mind having (express down pass. and rear windows, express open sunroof, etc...), but I'm just not interested enough to go through the trouble.

Originally posted by bohdi:
I've learned both from observation and personal experience, the more one tinkers with a car, the more likely it is to become problematic further down the road and arguably eliminating the practicality of it.

exactly! i usually end up modifying something to such a degree that it becomes more of a pain in the ass than enjoyable. then i get sick of it and sell it for 1/10th of what i have into it. then i miss it a couple years later. it's a viscious cycle.

Originally posted by TheGreatOne:
as long as i have money to spend on the car, then i will.

Started out with what I thought was a more than sufficient budget for my project but the cash is getting burned up pretty quick. And with this being the biggest mechanical job I've ever done I've had to shell out for tools too. Its a good thing the wife really enjoys this car or else overspending on our "car money" would be harder to get away with.

I told myself that once it is lowered and I have wheels on there and clean up the appearance (clear corners, sail panels, door ding guards, etc), that I would hold off on anything until it is out of warranty or something becomes necessary. I've stuck to it quite well. I will need struts soon, and that will be the first serious 'mod' in two years. The car is under warranty until 90k, so it'll be interesting to see what happens when I get there. The mod bug was replaced by the keep-it-clean and running bug, which has satisfied me sufficiently.

Originally posted by bohdi:
Short answer, I was done the day I bought it.

I totally agree. I was "done" with my car when I took the keys from the salesman. Never had any desire to change anything on the car. There are so many other things in life that are much more important to me and are priority items for my money. My car is simply an applicance to get to work. Right now, I'm saving every extra dollar I have towards early retirement. If and when I do get back into playing with cars, it will be something fun and classic, from the '60's or earlier.

I still need to do suspension, redo the interior, new bodykit, new paint....then maybe ill call it done.

Originally posted by beyondloadedSE:
I still need to do suspension, redo the interior, new bodykit, new paint....then maybe ill call it done.

So just the small $$$ mods right?

Mark

yeah, ill have to see if i can scrounge up some money in between the couch cussions.

Originally posted by bohdi:

Originally posted by RawBurt:
knauberize, LED switches...

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

What about Recalls, regular maitenence, upgrades to prevent expensive fixes?

I'll be done about 1/2 way through my eulogy.

MP3 headunit, sub, spkers, $500
17" ASA AR1's, $800
17" Kumho ECSTA MX's, $500
BAT Suspension Pkg, $600
MSDS Headers, $600
Trubendz, $450
B&M SS, $250

$3700 usd which comes out to $5500 CAD

Maybe I'll save the money and leave it stock ...

Next time mine blows up I'm done.

Next time I roll one.

I think I'll be done once I do (not in order of importance):

1. MSDS Headers
2. BAT Handling Kit
3. Knauberize the doors
4. New paint
5. New plugs and wires
6. SCT performance flash
7. New transmission mounts
8. New headlights
9. Optimized TB
10. A-pillar guage pod

This might take a while...

Quote:

I still need to do suspension, redo the interior, new bodykit, new paint....then maybe ill call it done

I love the way you think! But you know you will never be done, dont fool yourself

.

I have no problem 'sinking' money into it if im having fun doing it. [censored] its better for me then free basing black tar heroin...

Originally posted by Pudmunkie:

Quote:

I still need to do suspension, redo the interior, new bodykit, new paint....then maybe ill call it done

I love the way you think! But you know you will never be done, dont fool yourself .

I have no problem 'sinking' money into it if im having fun doing it. [censored] its better for me then free basing black tar heroin...

........maybe

When I get "bored" of the car....then its history for good...this time...maybe....i hope......

Originally posted by ALIAS Jerk:

What about Recalls, regular maitenence, upgrades to prevent expensive fixes?

But all those fall under the "broke" category. Think about it, oil needs to be changed when it is worn, or "broken". Same thing goes for brake pads, struts, etc... A recall is addressing something that has failed or broken far too many times and is/or a safety issue. Again, "broken".

Curious, what sort of upgrades were you referring to that could prevent expensive fixes?

I'm not out to say that given the proper means, one shouldn't mod their car; by all means, mod away. I'm simply saying this is my everyday car and I'm shying away from any sort of mod that could hinder its everyday ability if you will.

Originally posted by durateX:

Originally posted by Y2KSVT:
Not dogging yellow if that's what you like, but if you're wanting it to flow with something, I'd color match it to something under the hood.. Maybe silver frost to match the body color, or blue to match plug wires, intake pipes, other powdercoated items..

That actually makes total sense Mark. I was trying to stay monochromatic anyway, so either silver or black to match the rear one will do... Thanks for the idea.

XL

Strut brace and TB powdercoated by Buckshot.

I liked the car the first day I saw it and really had no plans to do anything to it. But then...........I found CEG and that's all it took! So it's not really my fault, it's everyone else's!

I probably won't ever be "done" until the car somehow dies. However, the major things I'd like to do still are: 3L swap, MSDS headers, clutch upgrade, lightened flywheel, quaife, tranny upgrades, repaint(coming soon...), Cougar dash, and maybe some bigger brakes since I should be going faster after that. My main goal for this car is for it to be quick (not fast) and fun while being able to carry 4 people and some stuff in relative comfort. Looks like I only have a few grand in mods left, lol.

Youâ�?��?�re never done if you are a real car guy. After the Contours become impossible to keep up there will be another car. Maybe the Contour plus another car. As for becoming more concerned about the financial aspects of modding cars as you mature, maybe the reverse is true, the older guys have the nicest cars. I am waiting for my kids to graduate from school and move out so I don't have to support them any more which should free up a bunch of money for car stuff, either Contour or Ford 60's muscle. This is a life long disease.

Rich S.

i may be done sooner than i thought.........i might be getting rid of the car in the next week or so......not sure what i'm gonna get....i'm having a hard time finding anything else like the contour..i.e small four door 5spd,v6 good handling...i'll prob end up with a csvt

I make a list of mods I wanna do...do some of em, and something new always comes up I wanna do to her....it never stops, and I love it!

Originally posted by richs:
I am waiting for my kids to graduate from school and move out so I don't have to support them any more which should free up a bunch of money for car stuff, either Contour or Ford 60's muscle. This is a life long disease.

And I though I was getting old for this shyt

.

XL

Originally posted by durateX:

Originally posted by richs:
I am waiting for my kids to graduate from school and move out so I don't have to support them any more which should free up a bunch of money for car stuff, either Contour or Ford 60's muscle. This is a life long disease.

And I though I was getting old for this shyt .

XL

Your never to old to mod cars and make em fast!

i will not stop on my stique' until the wheels fall off and the engine just drops out the front end...

...thew contique family can only get better...

Originally posted by MxRacerCam:

Originally posted by bohdi:
I've learned both from observation and personal experience, the more one tinkers with a car, the more likely it is to become problematic further down the road and arguably eliminating the practicality of it.

exactly! i usually end up modifying something to such a degree that it becomes more of a pain in the ass than enjoyable. then i get sick of it and sell it for 1/10th of what i have into it. then i miss it a couple years later. it's a viscious cycle.

this is SOOOO true

Originally posted by getlucky151:
I make a list of mods I wanna do...do some of em, and something new always comes up I wanna do to her....it never stops, and I love it!

Same thing happens to me. I'll make my list of mods, upgrades, fixes or whatever and by the time i have everything crossed out a new list has evolved!

Originally posted by richs:
This is a life long disease.

Rich S.

Is there a twelve step program for this?

What are the warning signs?

I may be experiencing some of the early symptoms.

And I don't know what to do.

Contouraholics Anonymous

When I get a BMW. And even then I'll still hang onto my SVT for awhile.

well i got the car in hs so I spent a lot of time on it then, but when I went to college things obviously changed. I put the chip in my freshman year in college over break, and decided that was the last thing I was going to do, other than maybe the suspension if it got bad enough....so then I didn't go on this site after that, and one day and two years later I got bored and loged on to www.contour.org, and that was a mistake, because it all came back to me and I've been doing stuff ever since. Not really performance stuff, just little stuff here and there that I found. Its fun though, I learn little stuff from doing it, it keeps me entertained....and its waaaay better than reading, right?

Originally posted by 04marauder:

Originally posted by richs:
This is a life long disease.

Rich S.

Is there a twelve step program for this? No

What are the warning signs? MSDS headers

I may be experiencing some of the early symptoms. For sure.

And I don't know what to do. There is no cure.

Contouraholics Anonymous

My big "mod" today was going to the soft cloth car wash,

I don't mod my daily's anymore. Maybe every now and then, but very little.

My car is a 1970 Buick Skylark, frame up restoration. No budget, as of yet. No money, as of yet. I am going to most of the work myself. So when will I be done? 5, maybe 10 years...who knows. WHen the car is done, I will know.

For me I was done when I sold one of my 95 Contours!

Bob

Originally posted by LilRedRocket:
Silly guy... modding never stops.

LOL....I keep on saying that it will end but I find myself buying more stuff.....just bought a smaller pulley, 65mm TB, and a cylinder head.